Freedom

I'm going to start by stating that the only true freedom is found in Jesus.

There are many things we are free to do in the United States. Freedom tends to be what we eat, sleep, and drink. And, we are very aware when one of those freedoms is threatened.

Sometimes we are so arrogant about our freedom, we actually don't realize when we don't have true freedom. And as Christians, especially, we tend to throw this word around a lot.

My question is, "Are we truly acting in that freedom in Jesus?"

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. - Galatians 5:13 [NIV]

Let's also look at this from a thought-for-thought translation:

Beloved ones, God has called us to live a life of freedom in the Holy Spirit. But don't view this wonderful freedom as an opportunity to set up a base of operations in the natural realm. Freedom means that we become so completely free of self-indulgence that we become servants of one another, expressing love in all we do. - Galatians 5:13 [TPT]

You see, it seems we are so accustom to freedom that we primarily use that freedom for ourselves. According to this verse, freedom that was bought through the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension work of Jesus, is not for ourselves.

Yes, Jesus died on the cross. Yes, he deafeted death. Yes, he rose again. Yes, he set us free from sin. Yes, he brought us salvation. That is where the freedom starts.

But there is more.

We were not intended to simply sit in that salvation, learning, growing, healing, transforming only for oursleves. We were always intended to take all of it and use it to serve others. And I'm not talking about simply the acts of service that you can check off your list and say, "Look, I did it. What a good Christian I am."

The acts of service may look the same, but God sees the heart.

Are we using our freedom for self-indulgence?

In all honesty, I know I have been. I came head-to-head with it this past week. I was chasing after something that was not Jesus. It was being pulled from what my soul was needing and I was not running to Jesus to heal, fill, or address the issue.

And I knew it!

I knew exactly what I was doing, and so did Jesus. That is when I realized, true freedom is not saying, "I have the freedom to do this, so I will."

In Jesus, we have true freedom because we have the freedom to do something, and the freedom not to do it.

Jesus is the only place that gives us both sides of freedom.

You see, I lived a majority of my life under the control of fear. I didn't realize it, but fear shaped my every decision. In recent years, Jesus has healed me from a lot of that fear. Now I know that God will love me no matter what I choose to do...make a mistake, choose to sin...His love remains the same.

Can I tell you, this new freedom from fear actually makes things more difficult! The fear is no longer there to stop me from my self-indulgence. Fear did not offer true freedom. It told me I must always do the right thing (one choice) or bad things would happen.

With the slavemaster of Fear gone, my decisions now need to be made through my love for Jesus, the one who did the work to bring me both sides of freedom.

You see the enemy will say you have freedom, but when you try to not do something (or in some cases to do something) the pressure is intense.

Natural self-indulgence and life in the Spirit cannot co-exist. You choose one or the other. And Jesus will let you, because He loves you. He will give you red flags in your spirit. He will give you thoughts to remind you of truth. But, in the end, He will let you choose.

This is love...true freedom.

This is His gift to us. What will we do with it?

Will we take that true freedom and use it for self-indulgence? Or will we serve others, and in doing so, serve Jesus.

Your choice.